Jonathan Van Ness Calls Accusations of Bad Behavior on ‘Queer Eye’ ‘Extremely False’

Getty Images

“Queer Eye” hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness has responded to Rolling Stone’s reports about his alleged abusive behavior on the set of the Netflix reality series.

In the March investigation, seven sources from the “Queer Eye” production team alleged that Van Ness was “emotionally abusive” on set, going so far as to call them a “monster” and a “nightmare.” One source called their outbursts “intense and scary” and described their behavior as “almost like a cartoon where it oozes out of them.” Another crew member added that Van Ness lashed out “at least once a day,” singling out one production member to “point the finger at, blame, and make the villain of the day.”

After months of silence following the allegations, Van Ness responded via an interview on the “Table Manners” podcast in which the “Queer Eye” actor said the story “isn’t really based in reality” .

“Even though I believe that article was extremely false and written in bad faith,” Van Ness said. “There have obviously been times throughout my career where you’re stressed, or I’ve maybe been in the thick of it and I’m like, ‘No, I can’t talk about that right now.'”

“I know there were times where I could have been better, but I also think that as an abuse survivor and talking about everything I talked about, I internalized everything so much That. I was like, “Oh my God, is this true?” Am I really such a bad person? » »

Van Ness added that they used the article as an opportunity to “slow down, detach and really love each other,” giving them time to “feel (their) feelings.”

“I just had to pull back, go inside and feel it,” Van Ness said. “And then once I was done feeling it, I was able to acquire the language to be able to say what I had just said. It just kind of paralyzed me.”